Toy sailboat with steering means



y 1951 R. s. WENTWORTH 2,561,331

TOY SAILBOAT WITH STEERING MEANS Filed Oct. 26, 1946 20 INVENTOR. mmKMZZ WJZ BY 26 $7 ATTOR/VfKS Patented July 24. 1051 2,561,831

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application embela, 1m. Serial No. am 1:claim. (0|. ill-m so that the course selected would end at a point Themm- 1; 1 so t t 1 along a shore opposite the point from which the tendfore and aft 01' life r u ilder post I a hic h boat was launched. Whenthis not not done, t i connected, The m i sheet la n t; t it was mostdlflieul o recover the beetm boom ID with an end of the tiller llinstead of I have disc that in Ordinary sell the usual cleat fastened tothe deck. so that the boa can be qui with inexpensive null 01 themalnsail i: tends to turn the rudllaratus whi h w l eto turn aroundautoder l4. Movable members it a normally hold matically after it hassailed for a predetermined the 1n f and an time and then return to thesame or nearly the The members a m and are same point from which it waslaunched. pivoted t t deck at I. respecflvely ing the tiller with theboom. Movable members 2' near one end. or stops are provided to themovement Either arm II or arm II can be swung out- (:6 the tiller underthe pull of the sheet on each side of the path of the an" H by thepiston a in cylinder 26. The cylinder has ears 2'' mired f a which areieetened to the deck in. The piston means for automatically withdrawingthe stop 2 the tiller against the pull of the sheet so that when theyhold the tmer m fore and an understood. I will describe the specificembodl- II to be inserted in slot II or h ment of it whlchl how preferand which is illus- 40 c the te of the iston. the arm II or trated inthe accompanying drawings in which: a' with which the link I. isconnected is slowly Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a sailboat incorpo- Pl away from the Path 01 the tiller I I. rating my invention and arrangedto iibe after h p s n I is m v y from h he it has sailed for apredetermined time; of the cylinder 26 by a spring. In the mecha- Fig. 2is a plan view oi the boat illustrated in (5 him illustrated n i 4, acomp ssi n p ing Fig. 1 with the sails removed.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 of a boat arfunction- In the modfication illustra ed n ig ranged to come about into the wind after ithas 3, h P o it! pu l d awavi om he h ad of sailed for a predeterminedtime; the cylinder II by means of a tension spring I! Fig. 4 is asectional elevation oi the timing to anchored to e k ou h a mIlmechanism; The rate of travel oi the piston It during its Fig. 5 is arear elevati n of the timing mechoutstroke is governed y B n dle Valve Nwhich anism illustrated in Fig. 4; and controls the rate at which air isadmitted to the Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of a modified cylinderII through port 4|. The head I! of type of timing mechanism. to needlevalve ll is preferably calibrated as illus- I'll. eioindieatetherateoitraveio! piston Ii durinl its on e. a

The operation or my sailboat is as follows:

The main sheet II is payed out sumciently to permit the boom II to swingsired tor the course selected. the main sheet to the after asillustrated in Fig. 2 so that the boat will jibe when the arm Ilia swunsaway from th This causes the boat to reverse will not lose headway Themembers so, ill are pushed hook to is in- The boat is then launched uponits course piston 2| slowly swinss the arm a ted away (mm the path thetiller il. pull of the sail I! then swinss the iorward end of the tillerto windward and the boat jibes. Alter the boat has jibed, the pull ofsail swings the tiller back to lore and aft position and holds it inthat position against the arm the dir ction of the boat then launched.

Under some circumstan s, it is preferable to brins the boat about intothe wind to reverse its direction. This is accomplished by attaching theeet II to the forward end 0! the tiller and piston 28 is connected withthe arm 23 or 2! which is to leeward when the boat is first set on itscourse (Fla. 3). Alter that arm has been moved out o! the way of thetiller and the boat has come about. the other arm holds the tiller inlore and aft position so that the boat returns to the place from whichit was started.

A particularly intriguing ieature of my boat is that the behavior of theboat under sail is usually dependent to a large degree upon the judgmentUnder constant condibreeze and no current, the boat the course chosenfor it so that it from which it was and round a marker closely at theend of that course underskilliul handiins.

practice of my toy sloops but it may be in any toy sailboat with foreand aft riiging, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat other modifications may be made in the specific embodiment which Ihave described without departing from my invention.

what I claim is 1. A sailboat having a boom, a rudder, a tiller, iromthe boom to the tiller, a separately movable stop members pted to holdthe tiller in fore and sit posltggi.

and automatic means operable after a predetermined interval selectivelyto move said members so that the tiller can one side. I

8. A sailboat having a mast, a mainsail, a min only one of be swuns toboom attache to the mast tor pivotal movement,

a rudder. a tiller, a pair 0! opposed separately movable members adaptedto hold the tiller in lore and art position, a sheet connecting the boom5 with the rudder so that movement or the boom beyond a predeterminedangle will turn the rudder and tiller, and automatic means operablealter a predetermined interval selectively to move only one of saidmembers so that the rudder can be swuns to one side by the puiiiof thesail.

4. A sailboat having a mast, a mainsaii, a boom, a rudder, a rudderpost, a rudder post so that each 01 its ends extends beyond said rudderpost, movable members adapted to hold the tiller in fore and aftposition, automatic means operable after a predetermined intowel to moveone of said members, and; a sheet adapted to connect the boom witheither of said ends of the tiller.

5. A sailboat having a mast, a mainsail, a boom, a rudder, a tiller, apair of opposed separately movable members adapted to hold the tiller inlore and aft position, automatic means operable after a predeterminedinterval selectively to move only one of said members, and a sheetconnecting the boom with the tiller so that on the movement of the sailwill turn the the boat to jibe.

6. A sailboat having a most, a mainsail, a boom, a rudder. a tiller, apair of movable members adapted to hold the tiller in fore and atposition. automatic means operable after a predetermined interval tomove one of said members, and a sheet connecting the boom with thetiller so that on the movement of said member the pull oi the sail willturn the tiller and rudder to cause the boat to come about.

I. A sailboat having a boom, der, a tiller, a sheet extending irom theboom to the tiller, a pair of opposed separately movable stop membersadapted to hold the tiller in tore and aft position, and automatic meansoperable alter a predetermined interval selectively to move only one oisaid members so that the tiller can be swims to one side.

8. A sailboat having a boom. a rudder, a tiller. a sheet extending iromthe boom to the tiller. a pair of i.-shaped members pivoted to oppositesides of the deck of the boat and each having an arm adapted to engageone side oi said tiller when it is in lore and aft position, andautomatic means operable after a predetermined interval to pivot eitherof said members so that its arm is swung to a position outside 01 thepath a boom, 9. rudder, a sheet a tiller, a

tiller in fore and aft position, a cylinder, a pieton, means (orconnecting either of said movable members with the piston at the end ofits instroke. means ior mine the piston outwardly so that the movablemember to which it is controm the path traversed by 01 the rudder in onedirection, and means for timing the outward of said piston.

sailboat havins a boom, a rudder. a tiller. 1:. sheet connecting theboom with the tiller, a pair of movable members adapted to hold thetiller in lore and sit position. a cylinder having a port near its head,a piston in said cylinder, means for connecting either oi said'lsmovablerpemberswiththep not the end of its in-stroke. a springconnected with the piston and adapted to force the piston outwardly .0that the movable member to which the piston is connected is withdrawnfrom the path traversed by the tiller upon turning of the sadder in onedirection, and a needle valve adapted to control the admission of airinto the cylinder through said port.

11. The combination with a toy sailboat having its main sheet attachedto its tiller. of a pair oi opposed separately movable stops positionedto limit the turning movement of the tiller under the pull of the sheetin each direction. and timed means for selectively wlthdraw- In: eitherone of said stops.

ROBERT S. WEN'I'WOR'I'H.

6 awesome cum UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Mace Apr. 20, 1915Hammond June 6. 1922 Boucher Feb. 8, 1927 Lee Aug. 21. 1928 Sperry Aug.11, 1931 Dugan Nov. 27, 1934

